How Double Tap Creators Shaped the 2026 World Cup

The World Cup has always been about what happens on the pitch. In 2026, creators also played a major role in how fans experienced everything around it.

According to Meltwater, World Cup-related content generated 9.2 billion engagements during the tournament. But the numbers only tell part of the story.

Across the competition, Double Tap creators built communities, turned unexpected players into global stories, stepped inside major sporting moments and helped brands connect with fans.

Here’s what that looked like.

Building a World Cup Space for Creators

Double Tap’s Home of Creators in Miami expanded the World Cup experience beyond stadiums and traditional fan zones.

Created as an exclusive Double Tap project, the house brought together creators from football, gaming, the arts and the wider sports world for watch-alongs, challenges, collaborations and daily content.

Within its first two weeks, more than 60 creators had visited the house, producing over 900 pieces of content and generating more than 11 million views.

By the end of the World Cup, the Miami House had delivered:

• 104 matches livestreamed over 40 days

• 150+ creators from more than 30 nationalities

• 2,000+ pieces of content published across multiple platforms

• Eight major events hosted

• 100M+ views generated across new social channels built from scratch

The Home of Creators also gave creators a space to meet, experiment and build their own culture around the tournament.

Turning an Unexpected Player Into a Global Story

Ahead of the World Cup, Double Tap creator El Scarso went looking for one of the tournament’s least-followed players.

He found New Zealand defender Tim Payne, who had roughly 4,700 Instagram followers.

El Scarso encouraged his community to support Payne, and the idea quickly took off. Payne’s following climbed into the millions, while El Scarso’s original video passed 18 million views.

The story eventually caught McDonald’s attention, which later featured Payne on a collectible cup.

El Scarso helped turn Payne's rise into a global story.

Read the full Tim Payne story.

Bringing Creators Into the Biggest Moments

Michelob ULTRA placed Double Tap creators directly inside the tournament through its Superior Player of the Match activation.

Matty FC presented the trophy to Emam Ashour following Egypt’s match against Belgium. RonShredz presented it to Malik Tillman after the United States defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After Argentina’s victory over Austria, Melu Bertetti presented the trophy to Lionel Messi. Her post passed 200,000 likes within a day, and Argentine media covered the moment as a story of its own.

The campaign also brought creators closer to the tournament’s final stages. RonShredz, Matty FC and several other creators were flown by private jet to the semifinal between Argentina and England. 

Ahead of the final, they joined a round-trip boat journey to New Jersey to watch the tournament’s closing match.

The creators participated directly in some of the World Cup moments fans cared about most.

See inside Michelob ULTRA’s World Cup campaign

Connecting a Brand With National-Team Fans

Known as ‘La chica del chocolate’, Elena Durán brought another perspective to the tournament through her work with Nestlé and the Spanish national team.

The partnership grew from an authentic moment during the Club World Cup, when Elena handed out chocolate to players and fans. Combined with her football knowledge, energetic storytelling style and access through her work as a journalist for DAZN Spain, the moment gave Nestlé a natural connection to her content.

Elena helped bring fans closer to La Roja through the perspective of a creator who already understood the team, its supporters and the culture surrounding Spanish football.

The partnership positioned Nestlé naturally within the fan experience.

A Changing Role for Creators in Sport

Each of these examples showed a different side of the creator’s role at the World Cup.

Creators built new spaces around the tournament. They influenced which players became global stories. They stepped inside major live moments. And they helped brands connect with fans through personalities those audiences already trusted.

Together, these examples demonstrated how creators shape the way major sporting events are experienced, shared and remembered.

For brands and rights holders, the strategic value comes from involving creators early. Their audience insight, cultural relevance and ability to react in real time can turn sponsorships into more natural and engaging fan experiences.

For Double Tap, the World Cup was an opportunity to put that belief into practice through our own projects, our creators’ ideas and our collaborations with brands.

The lesson for future sporting campaigns is simple: build creators into the strategy from the beginning.